The Story of How A Beaten Up Old Surfboard Led to a Career as the 'Fish Taco King' of Coastal Delaware
Thousands of people in and around the "Nation's Summer Capital" of Rehoboth Beach know Oldfather Group Realtor Aquiles Demerutis as the "Fish Taco Guy," the man who for years created mouth watering culinary creations from his popular and unique restaurant just off Route 1.
Then a hard to find offering at the Delaware beaches, those handmade fish tacos became quite the sensation for awhile. But the desire for more family time eventually won out, prompting Demerutis to close the shop permanently on the final day of 2018.
But how exactly did a man born in the city of Guadalajara, Mexico become the fish taco king of coastal Delaware in the first place? Would you believe it can all be traced back to a down on his luck Mexican man attempting to pay back a debt without any money?
Let us explain...
As a younger man, the future entrepreneur and fish taco king lived for a few years in the city of Cabo San Lucas, on the southern tip of Mexico's Baja Peninsula.
It was a wild and crazy time that included a job at the local airport and run-ins with more than a few famous people, including Sammy Hagar, Madonna, Arnold Schwarzenegger and comedian Paul Rodriguez.
Aquiles even once found himself as an extra on an episode of "Beverly Hills 90210" and several episodes of a show called "Land's End," which starred Fred Dryer of "Hunter" fame.
"They filmed that whole series in Cabo and for a while Fred Dryer was just another local," remembers Demerutis, who still resides today in Rehoboth Beach. "He was really nice and would buy us all drinks when we were at the bar. It was definitely a fun time."
Then one day, a man in debt offered to pay Aquiles's father back with something other than money. He didn't know it at the time, but that one crazy, desperate gesture would change his life forever.
Why? Well not because of the gesture itself, but what was included in the quid pro quo offer made to his father.
"Somebody owed my dad money and he decided he was going to pay him with what was really a pile of junk," remembers Demerutis. "And that's really what it was, but included in that pile was an old surfboard. I picked that out and I started surfing there in Cabo."
The surfing was great, with a youthful Demerutis sharing the waves with surfing legends like Rob Machado and Christian Fletcher. It turned into a daily activity, with swells available all year round in sunny Cabo.
Then one day in between riding the morning waves and watching Hagar ride around town in his "little dune buggy," it got even better.
A friend introduced Demerutis to the delicacy that is the fish taco. And a legend was born.
"I really only started eating fish tacos because of surfing. They weren't very well known back then, but I really liked them," he says. "When I went back to Guadalajara a few years later, I decided to open up a fish taco stand right there in the city."
